Railroad Track Survey System

1. A railroad track inspection system comprising: a plurality of track scanning sensors; a data store for storing track scan data recorded by the track scanning sensors; and a scan data processor for automatic analysis of said track scan data upon receipt thereof to detect one or more track components within the scan data from a predetermined list of component types according to one or more features identified in said scan data; wherein the system comprises a common support structure to which the track scanning sensors, the data store and scan data processor are attached, the common support structure having a mounting for attachment of the system to a railway vehicle in use; and wherein the track scanning sensors are adjustably mounted on the common support relative to the mounting, and the system comprises an actuator and a controller for dynamically adjusting a field of view of the image capture sensors whilst the vehicle is in motion, the actuator being a common actuator arranged for translation of the track scanning sensors in unison relative to the support structure mounting.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of track scanning sensors comprise one or more visual imaging sensor and one or more track geometry measurement sensor system using three dimensional surface profile measurement; wherein the system comprises a motion sensor and the scan data processor receives the output of the motion sensor and the geometry measurement sensor so as to determine a three-dimensional position of track components in space; wherein the motion sensor is attached to the common support structure.

3. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the common support structure comprises a rigid enclosure within which the track scanning sensors, the data store and scan data processor are housed as a single module or assembly.

4. The system according to claim 3 , wherein the scan data processor and data store are provided in a housing as a removable processing unit, which is releasably mechanically and electrically coupled to the common support structure by one or more connector formation.

5. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the system is arranged to operate selectively in both an attended mode in which a human operator provides control inputs for image data acquisition, wherein operator software tools are available for review and reporting of asset status information, and an unattended mode, wherein the system operates fully autonomously according to a preprogrammed set of machine readable instructions embedded within it.

6. The system according to claim 5 , wherein the unattended mode does not require human intervention for starting, stopping, data acquisition or analysis and is fully automated from data collection to transmission of data analysis to an operational control centre.

7. The system according to claim 4 , wherein the scan data processor and data store are provided in a housing as a removable processing unit, which is releasably mechanically and electrically coupled to the common support structure by one or more connector formation.

8. The system according to claim 7 , wherein the track scanning sensors are mounted to the common support structure separately from the removable processing unit.

9. The system according to claim 7 , wherein the removable processing unit comprises a sealed unit, an internal space of which is isolated from an interior of the rigid enclosure when connected thereto.

10. The system according to claim 9 , wherein the track scanning sensors are mounted to the common support structure separately from the removable processing unit.

11. The system according to claim 3 , wherein the enclosure comprises a plurality of window portions, each portion being arranged in the field of view of one or more of said track scanning sensors, wherein at least one window portion is arranged at a different angular orientation to at least one further window portion.

12. The system according to claim 3 , wherein the common support structure and/or housing comprises a common power supply device and/or data connection device for connecting the system to the railway vehicle.

13. The system according to claim 2 , further comprising: a battery arranged to power at least the scan data processor and/or sensors such that storage and/or analysis of the track scan data can be performed by the system for a period of absence of external power.

14. The system according to claim 1 , comprising one or more light sources attached to the common support structure and arranged to illuminate a region of the railroad track corresponding to the field of view of the track scanning sensors.

15. The system according to claim 14 , wherein the illumination from the light source is substantially uniform over a lateral section or width dimension of the track.

16. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is arranged to adjust the field of view of the sensors automatically based on the location or absence of one or more identified feature or track component in the scan data relative to the field of view.

17. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the actuator comprises a linear actuator and/or the support structure comprises one or more runner arranged to constrain motion of the track scanning sensors in unison to a single degree of freedom.

18. The system according to claim 3 , wherein the track scanning sensors comprise at least two track scanning sensors mounted at spaced positions relative to the common support structure and opposingly oriented so as to scan a common railroad track component from opposing sides in use.

19. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the visual imaging sensor comprises at least one digital image capture sensor and the track geometry measurement sensor comprises at least one depth detection sensor, wherein the depth detection sensor captures three-dimensional surface data of the one or more track components and the scan data processor automatically identifies features corresponding to the same one or more track components in both the three-dimensional surface data and the images from the digital image capture sensor.

20. The system according to claim 19 , wherein the depth detection sensor captures three-dimensional surface data of the one or more track components and the scan data processor automatically identifies features corresponding to the same one or more track components in both the three-dimensional surface data and the images from the digital image capture sensor.

21. The system according to claim 3 , further comprising a location determination system, the scan data processor arranged to index scan data with a location determination record corresponding to the location at which the scan data was obtained.

22. The system according to claim 21 , wherein the location determination system comprises a vehicle travel distance sensor for determining the location of said sensor relative to a fixed datum point on the railroad track.

23. The system according to claim 22 , wherein the vehicle travel distance sensor output is correlated with a location reading from a geographic coordinate determining system.

24. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the scan data processor is arranged automatically to construct an image of a length of the railroad track from a plurality of consecutive scans from one or more of the track scanning sensors.

25. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the scan data comprises one or more matrix of pixel intensity and/or color values and the scan data processor is arranged to identify features in said scan data by clustering pixels according to said intensity and/or color values.

26. The system according to claim 1 , comprising: a railroad vehicle travel sensor for sensing the speed, direction and/or travel distance of the railroad vehicle; and a controller arranged to trigger a scan by the track scanning sensors according to an output of said vehicle travel sensor.

27. The system according to claim 26 , wherein the vehicle travel sensor provides a pulsed output, the frequency of which corresponds to vehicle speed and a scan by the track scanning sensors is triggered by each pulse or a predetermined number of pulses.

28. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the scan data processor comprises a plurality of processors, wherein at least one processor being arranged to log scan data captured by the plurality of track scanning sensors and associated location data in real time in the data store automatically upon receipt thereof.

29. The system according to claim 28 , wherein at least one further processor is arranged to process the captured scan data automatically upon receipt thereof so as to identify track components in real-time or near-real-time.

30. The system according to claim 29 , wherein at least one processor is arranged to perform analytical analysis of the scan data in order to identify a status or defect of the identified track components in real-time or near-real-time.

31. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the data store comprises a non-volatile data store and a buffer for the scan data processor, the non-volatile data store comprising a database comprising raw scan data obtained from the sensors and a further database comprising track component classification and/or status data logged with a location record corresponding thereto.

32. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the scan data processor determines a confidence score for a track component determination according to a degree of a match between a plurality of geometric and/or surface property features of a track component identified in the track scan data and one or more predetermined component features.

33. The system according to claim 1 , comprising an alert module arranged to receive the output of the scan data processor and automatically determine whether one or more alert condition is met based on the one or more feature identified in said scan data.

34. The system according to claim 1 , further comprising: a data compression module.

35. The system according to claim 1 adapted for mounting to a passenger or freight revenue generating railway vehicle or locomotives in use.

36. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the scan data processor or a further processor in communication therewith is arranged to output track component condition information derived from said track scan data, said track component condition information being provided as a track inspection report for use in planning track maintenance actions including track repair and/or renewal.

37. The system according to claim 36 , wherein the track component condition information, including defect data with location information, is transmitted wirelessly from the vehicle to a central control or data centre from where end-users can retrieve it for further analysis and maintenance planning.

38. The system according to claim 2 , further comprising: a thermal imaging sensor used for component condition analysis.

39. The system according to claim 2 , further comprising: a position sensor working in combination with the visual imaging sensor and one or more track geometry measurement sensor system with analytics to measure rail parameters including position, orientation, profile wear, track gauge under both loaded and unloaded conditions, geometry parameters such as twist, super-elevation, curvature, and rail-wheel interface measurements such as the amount of hunting of wheel on the track.

40. The system according to claim 39 , wherein the visual imaging capture sensor comprises a light sensor for sensing brightness and/or colour within a visible wavelength band.

41. The system according to claim 40 , wherein the track scanning sensors comprise any combination of an areascan imaging sensor, a linescan imaging sensor, a three-dimensional surface profile sensor and an asset distance sensor.

42. The system according to claim 41 , wherein the three-dimensional surface profile sensor and/or the asset distance sensor comprise a laser sensor device.

43. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the visual imaging sensor is used with an asset/defect classifier and/or an asset/defect status analyser that correlates an asset feature in an image captured by one sensor with a corresponding image captured by one or more further sensor.

44. The system according to claim 43 , wherein the asset feature comprises an edge profile and/or dimension of the asset and geometric feature or template matching is used to determine a degree of similarity between the feature of the detected asset and a predetermined geometric feature or template.

45. The system according to claim 43 , wherein the asset feature comprises a surface property profile of the asset and surface property feature or template matching is used to determine a degree of similarity between the feature of the detected asset and a predetermined surface property feature or template.

46. The system according to claim 43 , comprising a plurality of asset classifiers and an asset status analyser comprising two or more of a rule-based classifier, a template-based classifier and a statistical feature matching tool.

47. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the scan data processor identifies one or more pixel clusters within an image according to one or more pixel brightness or colour property, each pixel clusters being used by an asset classifier and/or an asset status analyser used to determine an edge, colour, texture or shape feature of an asset which is used to determine its condition and position of defects.

48. The system according to claim 47 , wherein the asset status analyser determines a change in asset orientation, shape, edge and/or color relative to a previously determined asset status characteristic.

49. The system according to claim 43 , wherein the operation of the scan data processor comprising the asset classifier and/or asset status analyser is automated upon receipt of captured image data and/or location determination data.

50. The system according to claim 43 , wherein the asset classifier and asset status analyser perform automated image analytics by use of software modules for processing image data to generate one or more output comprising the identity, properties and condition of each identified railroad track asset.

51. The system according to claim 1 , further comprising: a transmitter arranged to transmit a visual output signal to an operator console, the visual output signal comprising any or any combination of 2D or 3D maps indicating identified railroad track assets, asset risk reports, defects, and/or asset data graphs suitable for maintenance purposes.

52. The system according to claim 1 , wherein captured images from the track scanning sensors and location data from a location determining system are indexed by the scan data processor within one or more database in the data store.

53. The system according to claim 2 , further comprising: a linescan x-ray imaging sensor coupled with an x-ray source and used to image the inside of components such as rails, wherein such images are further processed with analytics software to diagnose internal flaws.

54. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the track scanning sensors detect the accurate position of track rails in real-time and controls actuator movement to keep the position of sensors at the same relative position with respect to the rail when the vehicle is in motion, thus improving sensor analytics accuracy and measuring abnormal wheel hunting movement that can damage both the track rails and the wheel.